Magic Carpet Ride
by RavenclawGrrl
Summary: Percy and Penelope have broken up but an unusual  and illegal  circumstance brings them back together.


**Title: ** Magic Carpet Ride

**Author: ** Ravenclawgrrl

**Pairing:** Percy/Penelope

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Harry Potter or these characters they are the property of J.K. Rowling and I stand to make no profit from posting this story.

**Summary: **Percy and Penelope have broken up but an unusual (and illegal) circumstance brings them back together.

_**A/N:** As you can tell by my join date in my profile, I've been on the site a long time. I've taken down a lot of stuff over the years, but the upcoming final movie release has gotten me all nostalgic so I'm doing some housekeeping and looking for some old stuff to post. Anything I post will be something that was originally written in the pre-OotP time frame. This was one of my favorite stories that I ever wrote. Even though it's no longer remotely canon compliant, I hope you all still enjoy it! _

**Magic Carpet Ride**

_Well, you don't know what we can find. Why don't you come with me little girl, on a magic carpet ride?_

_Well, you don't know what we can see. Why don't you tell your dreams to me - fantasy will set you free._

~_Steppenwolfe_

"Penelope?" Percy asked trying not to sound too shocked.

"Yeah, Penelope Clearwater, you know her, don't you Percy?" his older brother, Bill asked. "Didn't you go out with her a couple of times while you were in school?" It was a Friday night in July and Bill had just come home for the weekend.

Percy nodded, clenching his hands to his sides and hoping Bill wouldn't notice. "Well, that's great, that's... that's really wonderful for her, for you, too. She was a great student, I'm sure she'll be a good assistant." Percy sighed. "Well, I've got a lot of paperwork to catch up on. I'll see you in the morning." He turned and headed up the stairs to his room.

Bill took a swallow of his beer and studied his younger brother carefully as he left. He sighed as well. It was just as he suspected. Percy still wasn't over her.

* * *

><p>Penelope and Bill. Bill and Penelope. The thoughts went round and round inside his head causing Percy to toss and turn that whole night. Of all the jobs in all the offices in the world she could get after graduation why did it have to be the Gringott's office in Cairo? Why would she have to be working as the assistant to his older, smarter, cooler and more handsome brother, Bill? Weren't there always plenty of other girls throwing themselves at Bill? Why did Penelope have to do it, too?<p>

He chided himself for that last remark. Just because she was working for Bill wouldn't necessarily mean she was throwing herself at him. She was smart. She was a good student. She really would be a good assistant for Bill or anybody else. They'd be lucky to get her. And it would really be a good start for her career. But what if she didn't throw herself at Bill? What if Bill pursued her? The `what ifs' were endless that night. He wished he knew a Banishing Charm to get rid of them.

Besides, he thought to himself, Bill's office has just made her an offer. She wouldn't necessarily accept it. So maybe... maybe what? Maybe they'd get back together? After a whole year, maybe he and Penelope would start seeing each other again? Not bloody likely. He groaned and punched his pillow. So, what, maybe he should just Apparate over there and say something like `Sorry it's been a year since I've owled, but I was wondering if you'd like to forget your career in Cairo and maybe go out Saturday night?" It was hopeless. Hopeless. Hopeless. Hopeless. He fell into a fitful sleep.

"Where is it, you gits!" Bill hissed as he barged into Fred and George's room later that night. "I know you've got one and I need it now."

Fred yawned and rubbed his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Keep your voice down!" Bill ordered in a stern whisper as he started rummaging through their closet. "I need the magic carpet."

"What magic carpet?" George asked mildly.

"The one you two nicked when you were helping Percy inventory that compounded shipping container last weekend!" Bill snapped back. "I know you took one. I knew you two wouldn't be able to resist."

Fred and George looked at each other in the dim moonlight coming in through their window. "What do you mean you `knew we wouldn't be able to resist'?" George asked.

"I thought I might need a magic carpet here this weekend, but I couldn't smuggle one in. So, when Percy told me that he had that inventory to do, I suggested to you two that you help him because I knew you'd lift one and that it would be here this weekend."

Fred looked at George. "Brother we've been manipulated."

"I feel so used," George whined in a joking voice.

"Ah ha!" Bill whispered happily coming out of their closet with the carpet in hand. He headed out their door towards Percy's room.

"Wait, wait," Fred laughed, rolling out of bed. "What are you up to?" The twins padded out of bed behind Bill.

"Amateurs!" Bill sniffed. "Watch a pro at work." He quietly opened the door to Percy's room and stuffed the carpet behind the dresser. He took out a small sheaf of papers from his jacket pocket and quietly mumbled a Linking Spell then closed the door. The twins were snickering behind him in the hall.

"So, what's old Percy in for? You're setting him up with an illegal carpet you know. What did he do to you?" George asked, barely containing his laughter.

"Downstairs," Bill ordered hustling the two of them down the stairs in front of him. He procured three beers and they went outside onto the porch where he filled them in on his plan.

Percy spent most of the day Saturday in his room catching up on his paperwork. Well, catching up on his paperwork and avoiding Bill if the truth be known, he thought to himself. He heard a knock at the door. "Come in," he said, sitting up and stretching.

Bill stuck his head in the door. "Fred and George and I are all headed in to town for a bite of supper, want to come?"

Percy shook his head and smiled weakly. "No, thanks, I've still got a lot to do." He motioned at the papers covering his desk." And if I see you, Bill, I'll think about her, he thought.

"Okay, well, we'll be back later," Bill said as he left. Percy's room was so littered with paperwork he didn't notice that Bill had left the small sheaf from last night on top of his dresser.

Shortly after supper, Bill, Fred, and George returned from town. As they were heading into the house, Bill warned his two brothers, "Not a word from either of you, make yourselves scarce around Percy tonight! I mean it."

"We know, we know, all we want to do is watch the master plan unfold," George said solemnly.

"We bow to your superiority," Fred smirked, "And if it DOESN'T work, you owe us ten Galleons!"

"Hah," said Bill, "you two will be the ones paying up." Just then they heard a slight `pop' and Penelope Clearwater Apparated into the living room of the Burrow.

"Hello Bill," she said warmly, "Hello Fred, George," she added nodding to the other two. "You said you had some papers for me, Bill?"

"Hello Penelope," Bill answered, "decided to accept the Gringott's offer, yet?" He saw the concerned look on her face and hastily added, "Sorry, didn't mean to pressure you. Thanks for coming here. I brought the papers you need to review. They're around here somewhere." He patted his jacket pockets and then rifled through some papers on the kitchen table and countertops. "Now where did I leave them?" He looked aimlessly around the downstairs for a bit before brightening. "Well, the last time I had them was before we left for town. They must be up in Percy's room. I asked him to come with us and that's the last time I had them."

"Percy's room?" Penelope asked with an odd inflection in her voice.

"Yeah, um, I think I hear Mum calling us, guys, we better see what she needs. Penelope, you know the way, don't you? You can just review those papers and get back to the Gringott's Wizards' Resources Office when you've made your decision. And thanks for coming by. Come on guys." Bill said as he hustled the twins out the back door.

Penelope stood staring blankly around the empty living room for a moment after the boys had left. She sighed. Might was well get this over with, she thought as she headed upstairs to Percy's room. She hesitated before knocking lightly at the door.

"Come in," she heard Percy's voice from inside.

Taking a deep breath, Penelope opened the door and stepped inside. Gods, it had been a year since she had been here. The last time she had been in this room was at Percy's graduation party. She looked around. The room pretty much still looked the same, but it was cluttered with papers. Papers were everywhere. Poor Percy - he must really be swamped at work if he let his room get into this much disarray, she thought.

Percy looked up and his heart stopped. It had been over six months since he had even seen Penelope. The last time was at the Yule ball. She'd been there with some other guy. He had been so busy at the Ministry that he had never gotten around to asking her and she'd gone with someone from her own House. After that... well, after that they just hadn't had much to say to each other.

"Ummm...hello Penelope. How have you been?" he asked wondering if he could have possibly come up with anything a little less lame-sounding.

"Oh, fine. And you?" she asked politely.

"Oh, well, busy, I guess," he smiled back at her.

She cleared her throat, gods this was awkward. "Well, um, I just came by to pick up some papers. Bill said he thought he left them up here?"

Percy stood up to look around with her. They searched through the papers on his desk, but all were Ministry related. Then Percy saw the ones over on his dresser. He recognized the Gringott's letterhead and picked them up to hand them to her when there was a soft `thump' and the carpet fell out from behind the dresser. The two of them stood mutely for a moment with the carpet between them.

"Those bloody idiots," Percy hissed. "Don't they know how much trouble they can get into, I can get into, over this?"

"Really, Percy, you don't need to explain," Penelope said, taking the papers and turning to leave.

"No, wait, this isn't mine. It must be something Fred and George brought in for a joke."

"Really, it's okay, it doesn't matter if it's yours or not," she said coolly.

"But it's NOT mine," he insisted.

"Look, believe me, I KNOW that it's not yours," Penelope snapped back.

"Now what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I just mean that of course you wouldn't have anything like this. You've probably never even seen one before. You probably don't even know how they work."

"Well, of COURSE I've SEEN them before, Penelope. We intercept them all the time. And for your information, I do know how they work. All personnel in my office are required to put in flight time on them. We have to know what we're dealing with, you know. You can tell a lot about the supplier by the flight characteristics of the particular carpet. You'd be surprised...," he started to drone on when Penelope interrupted him.

"Really? You can really fly one of these?" The excitement was evident in her voice.

"Sure. And you'd better learn, too, if you're moving to Cairo," he winced as he said the last word. He hadn't meant for it to sound so mean.

Penelope ignored the barb. "What's it like?" she asked, kneeling down to feel the silken carpet that lay rolled up on the floor between them.

"It's kind of like, well, I don't know, kind of like floating. Yes, I guess you'd say it's more like floating than flying. The effects are different depending on the material. The woolen ones are more stable, more of a family model. The silken ones are a little more maneuverable, a sportier model..." Once again he started to drone on when Penelope interjected.

"This one's silk."

"Yes, it is, that probably means..."

"Will you show me?" she grinned up at him and Percy's stomach flip-flopped.

"Here? Tonight?"

"Well, no, not if you don't want to... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. You're busy."

"No, no, tonight's fine. I, um, I need a break anyway. Come on, let's go." He knelt down and picked up the carpet then stood and held out his hand to her. Hand in hand and grinning madly the two of them slipped down the stairs and into the woods behind the house.

Percy unrolled the carpet in a small clearing in the middle of the wood. He motioned for Penelope to sit near the center and then he sat beside her. Penelope was giggling. "Percy, are you sure this is okay? You won't get in trouble, will you?"

"No, really, don't tell anyone but I, um, know the monitoring paths that the Ministry has scheduled for tonight, so we can avoid anyone who's officially looking. Unofficially, there are plenty of these carpets that get used all throughout Britain, especially on the weekend."

Percy gave the levitate command to the carpet and it hovered slightly above the ground. He slowly maneuvered it to where it was just above the trees and started to make a turn to head off toward the countryside. As the carpet swooped to one side, Penelope gasped and reached for him. Percy circled his arm around her waist, "Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he said to her.

As they took off, Penelope squealed and leaned closer to him. Percy tightened his hold on her waist. She looked up at him, "Don't let go," she gasped, "Promise me."

"I promise," Percy said looking down at her and then he leaned and kissed the top of her head lightly.

Percy swooped and glided them all around the countryside then headed far out toward the ocean. Penelope clutched him tightly at first, then relaxed and simply leaned against him, savoring the warmth of him in the cool air.

It felt so *right* to be here next to Percy again, she thought to herself. She rested her head on his shoulder trying to commit every aspect of tonight to her memory. She could feel his warm body next to hers, his arm protectively around her waist. The stars were twinkling in an indigo blue sky above. She could smell salty fresh air and peeked down to see that they were above the ocean. She raised her head slightly and kissed his cheek.

Percy turned to her and brushed his lips lightly against hers. "I've missed you," he sighed.

She kissed him back, "I've missed you, too."

"So, where do you want to go?" he asked.

She pulled his face towards her to kiss him again. "Why do we have to go anywhere?" she asked.

Percy turned to her and kissed her fiercely, then. He held her tight and thrust his tongue between her barely parted lips and explored every part of her mouth. She slid her tongue to touch his and then glide across his lower lip, drawing on it. Percy leaned forward, pressing her back onto the carpet. "I don't think you know how much I've missed you," he whispered hoarsely.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I don't know. I'm a prat. I'm always busy at work. It seems that there's always too much to do and I let that get in the way of other things."

"I think you need an assistant," she said smiling up at him.

"Oh, you do, do you?" he teased, sliding his hand from around her waist. He was propped up on one side, gazing down at her. His free hand stroked from her shoulder down to her hips, slowing as he passed over the swell of her breast and back up again.

"Mmmmm hmmmm," she whispered, "You definitely have too much stress in your life. You could use some help."

"Really? What are your qualifications, Miss Clearwater?" he asked in his most haughty sounding voice.

"Ummm, this," she said and drew him down to kiss her. She circled her hands behind his neck and kissed him leisurely. She reached up and gently took off his glasses. "Umm, Percy, where can I put these so they don't fall off?"

"Don't worry, the edges are enchanted so things can't fall off."

"So we won't roll off, either?"

"Nope."

"Thank God," she rested back onto the carpet as he kissed her again. Fred, George and Bill were on the back porch when they saw Percy and Penelope sneak out the side door and head out to the woods with the carpet. Fred produced a set of Omnioculars and watched for only a few minutes before muttering, "Damn, George, pay the man."

George groaned and reached into his pockets to pay Bill their wager. "Say, Bill, how did you even know that Penelope was ever Percy's girlfriend? I don't remember you ever being around much when he was dating her."

Bill thought for a minute. "You know, that's right. I don't guess I did know until Mum told me. She asked if we were interviewing Penelope and then she just mentioned it in passing that she was Percy's old girlfriend. But somehow, the way she said it or something, I knew that Penelope still might mean a lot to him. So I decided to set this up to see what he would do." The three brothers laughed and turned to head back inside.

Molly stood watching the backyard from the kitchen window. She had seen Percy and Penelope leave the house hand in hand and head for the woods out back. She had thought they were carrying some carpet or something-or-other but that didn't really matter. At least they were together. When Bill had told her whom they were interviewing she hadn't really wanted to come right out and TELL him not to hire her. But she did know that if Bill knew Penelope still might mean something to Percy he would find a way to make sure before he hired her away to Cairo. She had known that her oldest son would think of something.

Molly frowned to herself for a moment. Now that she thought about it Bill never had actually told her they were interviewing Penelope. No, she had ASKED him if they were interviewing Penelope. And the reason she had ASKED was...

She tiptoed upstairs to where Arthur was supposed to be sleeping. It had been a rough week for him at work, 27 raids during the week. Yawning, he had said he was turning in immediately after supper. She came into their room and found him looking out their bedroom window towards the back yard.

"Arthur Weasley, YOU left those papers on my kitchen counter!" she accused him, feigning indignation.

"Molly, what ARE you saying?" he said, turning to grin at her.

"You left those requests for letters of recommendation on my kitchen counter because you KNEW I'd read them. And you knew that I'd see that Penelope was asking for a recommendation for Gringott's in Cairo. And you knew I'd worry about Percy and that I'd tell Bill and ..."

"And what?"

"And I love you," she said, raising up on tiptoes to kiss him. Arm in arm they stood looking out their bedroom window and watching the carpet disappear into the distance.

RavenclawGrrl


End file.
